Bangladesh Patents Bill, 2023 was passed in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on Monday with a provision of inserting time befitting rules and regulations in the law repealing the existing ‘Patents and Design Act’.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun moved the bill which was unanimously passed by voice votes with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.
According to the bill, the owner will be given the patents of any innovation for 20 years and then it will become public property. A registrar office will be there to issue or cancel patents of any single inventor or joint inventors of a technical innovation under the proposed ‘Bangladesh Patents Act, 2023’.
On February 22, the cabinet approved the draft of ‘Bangladesh Patents Bill’ which will repeal the patent-related provisions in ‘Patents and Designs Act, 1911’.
Earlier in 2022, the ‘Bangladesh Patent Act, 2022’ was enacted,
aiming to make a century-old patents law more time-befitting and safeguard intellectual property rights.
Just after passage of law in the parliament in 2022, experts demanded amendment to the ‘Bangladesh Patent Act, 2022’ in order to over the upcoming challenges for the local pharmaceutical industry and other sectors. They said that the pharmaceutical industry has strong potential to accelerate its growth and create a bold footprint in the global market.
Analysts said the fresh law would attract foreign investment as it protects intellectual property and works as a safeguard in stopping generic versions of new products or innovations from coming up.
